Write the Expression - A Week in Riley's Life
Students follow Riley, a 6th grader, through 15 connected real-life moments spanning Monday through Sunday - babysitting, splitting snack costs with friends, saving for a new game, feeding a neighbor's dog, and more. For each scenario, students are given one or two variable names and must write the algebraic expression that models the situation. Characters and situations reappear across problems to make the week feel continuous rather than a disconnected list of word problems.
This worksheet is engaging because the story structure gives every expression a meaningful context. Students aren't just writing abstract symbols - they're describing Riley's actual week, which makes the math feel purposeful and easier to remember. The equation input fields let students type expressions naturally (e.g., 8h, m+15) and receive immediate auto-graded feedback.
Pre-Requisites
- Understanding of what a variable represents
- Recognizing keywords that signal operations (more than, times, split equally, per hour, etc.)
- Familiarity with writing multiplication without the × symbol (e.g., 8h instead of 8×h)
Key Features
- 15 auto-graded expression fields - students type math naturally
- Problems are grouped under day-label dividers (Monday through Sunday) for easy navigation
- Randomized coefficients and constants per student - same story, unique numbers
- Equivalent forms accepted (8h and 8*h both marked correct; addition is commutative)
Best Used After
Assign this after introducing algebraic expressions and variable notation. Works well as a formative assessment or homework following direct instruction on translating verbal descriptions into expressions.
Learning Standards
- 6.EE.A.2a - Write expressions that record operations with numbers and with letters standing for numbers
- 6.EE.A.2b - Identify parts of an expression using mathematical terms (sum, term, product, factor, quotient, coefficient)
Learning Objective
In this worksheet, students will translate 15 real-life verbal descriptions into algebraic expressions using one or two given variable names. Students will identify which operation is implied by context clues such as 'per hour,' 'split equally,' 'more than,' and 'total with.' Students will practice writing multiplication expressions using juxtaposition (e.g., 8h rather than 8×h) and combining variable terms with constants. Students will interpret the structure of each expression they write, connecting each term back to its real-world meaning in Riley's week.
Randomization Available
This worksheet supports randomization. Each student will receive unique coefficients and constants while the story, variable names, and problem structure remain the same - making it easy to grade and difficult to copy. Would you like to enable randomization for this assignment?
💡 Tip: When assigning this activity to your classroom, you can optionally enable randomization to give each student a unique version of the problems. When you re-assign the same worksheet, each student will get a new set of questions, helping them master the content through repeated practice.
